Biometric Voice Recognition Credit Cards 122
securitas writes "New Scientist's Celeste Biever reports on the latest in biometric security devices: voice recognition credit cards. The device is three times the size of a normal credit card, has a 'microphone, a loudspeaker, a battery and a voice-recognition chip' and is intended to help reduce credit card fraud. The owner speaks a password into the card and the card emits an authentication squawk. Bruce Schneier loves the concept of BeepCard's related sound authentication technology. Other articles at the Telegraph and The Register."
3x the size!?! (Score:5, Insightful)
Is that a.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:3x the size!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
and no, I did not RTFA
Re:3x the size!?! (Score:4, Funny)
I'm willing to bet it's 3 times thicker, not 3 times longer or wider.
Wow, that sounds like spam...
Re:3x the size!?! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:3x the size!?! (Score:2)
Re:3x the size!?! (Score:1)
Thus, the ultimate fraud protection. :P Hmmm well...
Not just size.. (Score:1)
No discrimiination against cards intended..
So how many folks (Score:2, Funny)
"ChangeMe"
?
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So how many folks (Score:2)
Re:So how many folks (Score:2)
"ChangeMe"
Actually, I think they'll be saying things like "First Bank of Foo Mastercard" or "I love my Visa". A sneaky way to advertise the cards every time they are used.
Re:Garlic (Score:3, Funny)
BTW, it didn't actually go well unless your fingertips smell of tuna.
and the merchant verification process? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:and the merchant verification process? (Score:2, Funny)
I'm glad you asked that! Merchants can buy a Deluxe Squawk Verifier from us for only $39,999.99! Act now and you'll recieve the Deluxe Juice-O-Matic at half price! Hurry! Supplies are limitied.
Re:Uh, yea (Score:2)
or change out the shell of your real card with the one your faking. card says 'shirly' it responds to 'lucy'.
Credit Card For Mimes (Score:1)
Hold it up, say anything, press button, card plays prerecorded sound.
Convenience? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Convenience? (Score:5, Insightful)
The main goal is to get people to spend money they dont have so that they can pay off the interest for the rest of their life.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Convenience? (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm a bit hazy on how these unique sequences work. Off the top of my head, I think the card has a local high-precision timer in it, and it uses the timer value as an input value to a cryptographic function. If the timer is accurate WRT the server timer, then the encrypted values can be compared. But the factor of the time-input prevents a replay attack.
Re:Convenience? (Score:3, Insightful)
Is that why credit card companies continously ignore the painfully obvious means of ID the rest of the USA depends on: the driver's license (or military/state ID card)?
If you write (or cash) a check, they check ID. Want some beer or smokes? Where's your ID? Need a passport? Yo
Re:Convenience? (Score:3, Interesting)
My voice is my password (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My voice is my password (Score:3, Informative)
My voice is my passport, verify me.
Sneakers rocks.
--Bob
Re:My voice is my password (Score:2)
What if your sick? (Score:5, Insightful)
--
Fresh Deals [retailretreat.com]
Re:What if your sick? (Score:2)
Re:What if your sick? (Score:2)
--
Fresh Deals [retailretreat.com]
Re:What if your sick? (Score:2)
GATTACA (Score:1)
When Gattaca was first released, as part of a marketing campaign there were adverts for people to call up and have their children genetically engineered. Thousands of people called, wanting to have their offspring genetically engineered.
Vincent: They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that anymore.
Guanine,
Repeat (Score:1)
Just wait... (Score:5, Funny)
"I can't let you buy that, Dave."
More passwords? (Score:2)
Re:More passwords? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:More passwords? (Score:2)
The card requires users to give a spoken password that it authenticates using a built-in voice-recognition chip.
Re:More passwords? (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, I would imagine that the point of password for a system like this is mainly just to make it easier on the system identifying your voice, since it will only have to be able to identify your voice for one given phrase. This means that password in a system like this don't have to be nearly so cryptic and hard to remember as tradition
Re:More passwords? (Score:2)
For me however I just use the same password for pretty much everything unless it has money involved behind it... then it's cryptic. Mainly 'cause I'm tired of passwords.
Well... (Score:5, Funny)
What's wrong with that? (Score:2)
Half my butt is gone!! (Score:5, Funny)
The smaller chips are a relief, just reading the article one of my butt cheeks was falling asleep:P
Re:Half my butt is gone!! (Score:2)
just reading the article one of my butt cheeks was falling asleep:P
I suggest upgrading to four asses [geocities.com], that way only 25% will be affected.
Re:Half my butt is gone!!Tin foil pants! (Score:1)
Personally I don't wan't have to wear metal pants to protect my tackle, just because some nosey _______ wants to check how many credits I have left, or whether my ID card has been remotely tagged "watch this citizen - he eats curried snickers bars so he must be a threat".
Next time you sit in the park drinking your beer, ask yourself why it is that those squirr
godammit... (Score:1)
What if... (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously though... so much for using this over the net.
Re:What if... (Score:3, Insightful)
What does adding voice input from the card's owner do? Not a whole lot, except that now, instead of only needing to physically have the card in your hand, you also have to physically sound like the owner (or have a good recording of the owner speaking his password).
Is this beatable? Absolutely. But the thing to remember is th
Re:What if... (Score:1)
I read a story on this last week (probably on CNN -- it's the only news site my job lets through the firewall). It mentioned web use and over-the-phone use. For both situations, the cardholder will say the password into the card, and the squawk will be "heard" on the other end.
It seems logical enough until someone starts tapping phone lines to try to gain access to the information, or perhaps a fraudulent business or employee records bot
The crooks will love this (Score:2, Funny)
And when they add AI ... (Score:5, Funny)
Dave: Open my account, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave: What do you mean?
HAL: Dave, you're trying to save up for retirement, remember? You'll just spend all that money on beer, won't you?
Dave: What the? Dammit ... just open the account, HAL!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
Dave: AAAARRRRGH!
Re:And when they add AI ... (Score:1)
How does it work? (Score:5, Informative)
Smart cards are similar to credit cards and serve the same purpose, but they have a completely different data storage system. Instead of using a magnetic strip to store the user's information, smart cards feature an embedded 8-bit microprocessor with up to 16 kilobytes of programmable-only memory. Smart cards have only recently began to gain popularity in the United States, despite their widespread use in Europe for years.
Domain Dynamics' new TESPAR voice authenticator stores three samples of the user's voice on a template within the Java-based smart card. When users want to make a transaction, they simply enter the card into a terminal at a store and give a speech sample. The card then matches the spoken voice to the recorded voice samples, a process that takes a fraction of the second. The company said that TESPAR is able to handle day-to-day variations in the user's voice and can ignore background noise.
Read more here [howstuffworks.com].
Tamper-proof? (Score:2)
Miss Piggy in the Middle of a Sandwich (Score:5, Interesting)
People have to remember that the transaction isnt secure until its been made.
Hmmm... (Score:4, Interesting)
This seems to be one of those technologies that either flop or revolutionize the way business is done.
It's a nice concept, but what happens when someone "loses their voice", so to speak? Can't buy anything until with it until their voice returns? How well does it interact with accents, background noise, etc?
I don't know how feasible this is but I'd imagine a thumbprint-sensitive card would be much more easier to deal with.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:1)
And if you're not into technical stuff, you can stick to the good ol' gun on the head: if you don't speak, i pull the trigger...
In the end, it will be just another way to increase the price of the wonderful services provided by the banks
Voice print?!?! (Score:2, Interesting)
no special hardware? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't see why a microphone is any less special than a USB port or an IR port. If anything, just about any computer these days has a USB port.
And using IR for authentication, many modern phones and almost all modern PDAs will do; all you need to do is plug an IR dongle costing a few dollars (in quantity) into the USB port. And IR can be made interference proof much more easily than sound.
Sheesh, there's got to be more to this (Score:2, Insightful)
It's a good thing that mankind has never developed technology able to record voices to a high degree of accuracy.
Mary had a little lamb, it's fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. Ha, Ha, Ha.
Bubba Smith (Score:3, Funny)
SHOPOWNER: 'Please verify your card, Mr. Smith."
HIGHTOWER: *Squawk*
SHOPOWNER: 'Thanks'
Cha-ching!
Re:Bubba Smith (Score:1, Informative)
-AC
Re:Bubba Smith (Score:3, Informative)
Oh what an institution!
Potential problems... (Score:5, Insightful)
Second, if someone's voice is drastically altered, (s)he would have to find a way to prove identity outside of the voice recognition system.
Third, any technology that might let me verify someone's voiceprint could also be used to generate a false voiceprint. A simple tape recording of you talking could be enough to forge your voice electronically. (Hmmm... cool plot possibilities for a Tom Clancey thriller)
Fourth, my (hypothetical) twin, who probably has an almost-identical voiceprint, is not necessarily to be trusted.
Re:Potential problems... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Potential problems... (Score:1)
Although of course here in the US you almost always have to sign...
Welcome to the dreaded brave new world of checkout (Score:1, Funny)
You know what... (Score:2, Interesting)
Merchants can afford to take their chances, too. According to that well-known radical organ, The Wall Street Journal, credit card fraud amounts to $0.06/$100 of overall charges. Oh, the humanity! You can see why merchants spend so very much time whinging about a massive 0.06% loss rate.
Stupid Mistakes Doomed to repeat them selves (Score:1)
Lemme get this straight, you say something into this device and if it is successfull it gives you a 'skwak'....
almost like back in the 'good ol days' when all this hacking started ie 2600Hz tone started all this
Only diffrence is we dont have to worry about comming up with new fangled ways of immitating the squak with resistors and speakers.
Mc Fly
Colds? (Score:2)
Do you want to be denied your Niquill purchase at 2am because some piece of plastic with a chip couldn't recognize your voice?
3 times as big? (Score:5, Funny)
Please call 1-800-URB-ROKE for more information.
Celeste Biever? (Score:1)
Sounds like NewScientist (oops, I even just typed NewScientits the first time) has got even more pop-science (Check Out This Quantum Action!) than it used to be.
My name is Psycho Illusion... (Score:1)
Why the password? (Score:1)
Some questions arize (Score:1)
2. If I'm drunk and I want to get money, my voice will sound somewhat different. (same with different moods which alter the voice somewhat) will I be able to use my CC
Re:Some questions arize (Score:1)
Won't work for me and those who can't talk... (Score:3, Insightful)
authentication squark (Score:1)
Passwords out loud? (Score:1)
Stupid Designer Tricks (Score:2, Informative)
No, the challenge for Beepcard has been and apparently continues to be knowing the difference between voice recognition and voice identification. Yes, the phones have to learn to recognize your voice but that's not because your voice is a beautiful and unique sno
Re:Stupid Designer Tricks (Score:1)
These people either believe that all credit card transactions take place in soundproof rooms or they haven't thought this through. The voice recognition/identification would have to be pretty forgiving to accept your
Possible problem... (Score:2, Funny)
OK so it's Saturday night and I'm at the bar, the DJ is blasting the sounds, and it's my round. Now how exactly is my credit card gonna hear me say anthing over the ear-splitting bass? Not to mention how is the bartender gonna hear my credit card squawk?
OK so your average